“Learning to Love Star Trek” is a weekly blog series by Sci-Fi Block Editor in Chief Robert Ring, begun January 1, 2010. In this series of blog posts, Robert is endeavoring to determine whether he can make a Star Trek fan out of himself through an exposure to a combination of episodes from Star Trek the Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation (Update: TNG has now been replaced with Deep Space Nine). Click here to read his introduction to the experiment.

Update: In an extreme coincidence, I find that the very day that I post this conclusion to “Learning to Love Star Trek” is also the day of William Shatner’s 80th birthday. Happy Birthday, Jim. And thanks for all you’ve done.

When I started the “Learning to Love Star Trek” series, I honestly did not know whether I would come to love the show. If I had to guess, I probably would have said No. Based on what I had seen at that point, it simply wasn’t the kind of show I enjoy watching. It always seemed so watered down, lacking not just action (due to it being an older show) but a sense that something big was at stake for either the viewer or the characters. Though I didn’t consciously realize it at first, I think I went into this blog series curious not only as to whether I could come to love it but about why so many others love it so much. I just didn’t get the allure.

Now the project is complete, and in order to assess my general feelings about the series after about fifteen months of watching it on a weekly basis, I glanced back over some of my posts, focusing primarily on the episodes that I ended up enjoying. Looking at them, I realized something that surprised me: for the episodes that I liked, I liked them for various different reasons. I had expected to discover a generally common merit to the episodes, but that is not what I found on the whole. “The Galileo Seven” remains my favorite for its exploration of the merits and flaws of leading through pure logic and reason, as well as, naturally, its analysis of Spock, but this was about the only episode that had both interesting ideas and interesting character exploration. The other good episodes seemed confined to one strategy or another. “Who Watches the Watchers?” which is pretty much the only Next Generation episode I enjoyed, is all ideas. “The Naked Time” is pure character exploration. “Balance of Terror” is straight up drama and suspense. “The Menagerie” is also ideas, along with “What Are Little Girls Made of?” “Where No Man has Gone Before,” the episode that I at first did not care for but that I quite enjoyed on a second viewing, is a solid hero story mixed with equally solid dramatic flourishes. “Space Seed” is drama with some exploration of human nature. Before going into this project, I had the notion that Star Trek succeeds exclusively in the way of ideas. That is not, however, the case.

For the episodes that do focus on ideas, however, I found a common thread that I very much enjoy. These stories are about challenging one’s assumptions of truth, reason, science, and philosophy (it seems that TOS is focused primarily on the first three of these, while TNG spends most of its time on the latter two – with the two series overlapping at science) in a universe that offers infinite possibilities. We see this as early as “The Man Trap,” even though I don’t much care for the episode as a whole. My most recent exposure to this concept was outside of LTLST, when I sat down to watch “The Devil in the Dark.” The series is like the ultimate argument for the need for open-mindedness.

For whatever merits it may contain in the way of intelligence, TNG completely loses me with its often lame scripts and acting (except for Patrick Stewart, whose acting is of course superb). Even “Who Watches the Watchers?” is a bit alienating with its Mintakans – especially when Riker has to dress up as one. He looks like a fantasy convention cosplayer on a limited budget. On the whole, I honestly found TNG painful to watch. I know that this is a very loved series, and I know that it supposedly picks up in the third season, so I may return to it eventually (even though I got eight episodes in with hardly an indication of much change), but from what I’ve seen, I really just can’t take it.

Deep Space Nine is much better than TNG in my view. This is due mostly to its more serial style. As of this point, I have watched up to episode 14 (“The Storyteller”) and while the season so far hasn’t returned to the great allure with which it grabbed me initially, its premise and style are strong enough to keep me interested at least through the end of the season. In short, I have faith that it’s going to deliver at some point. Despite the great things I have heard about TNG, I lack such faith for that series.

It is TOS that I have enjoyed the most out of my Star Trek viewing, and it is that series that I most often feel compelled to revisit. When I first decided to embark on this project, I asked around as to what the best series would be for me to watch. I sort of took TOS as a given, but I was actually encouraged to focus my efforts elsewhere. A number of fans told me that I would likely find the show to be overall poorly aged and would have difficulty enjoying it. I don’t know if they were speaking from their personal feelings toward the series or if they were afraid of scaring off a potential Star Trek newcomer with a series that can’t compete on a superficial level with science fiction shows of today. I would find it quite surprising if those recommendations reflected their own views because I do not see how anyone who is a fan of Star Trek in general could not like TOS. Though there are certainly plenty of episodes that flop, the series’ presentation of the archetypal characters of Kirk and Spock (and Bones, too, I suppose, but to a lesser degree) is almost impossible for a sci-fi fan not to enjoy. Plus, I feel like with TOS, more than what I’ve seen of the either of the other series, when the characters are presented with a problem, even if it’s a problem that needs to be solved via intellectual means, it is a problem that affects them personally. It is as if their own worth depends on their ability to overcome the obstacles facing them. This deep focus on the characters is what pulls me in. It is something I am told DS9 at some point begins to do, and that is something to which I eagerly look forward.

It was Spock that I latched onto the most, speaking not only of characters or of TOS in particular but of all elements of all the Star Trek series that I watched for the project. While Kirk is certainly an enjoyable character to watch and has his own merits and flaws, Spock, to me, represents a great paradox of intelligent life: In order to live just, productive, and enlightened lives, we must turn to logic above emotion, but if we shun emotion entirely, we lose our humanity. Spock is a paradigm of the attempt to live life through unapologetic logic, something we might all be the better to strive for. However, as we find, Spock is not entirely free of emotion, nor should he be. His character is one that is admirable in his determination to live objectively but that exhibits flashes of intriguing and even relatable traits in his struggle with emotion. Watching him, I feel like I am watching someone who has elevated himself beyond the emotional trifles of the world. That’s not to say that all emotions are trivial but that many of them are, at least in comparison to how strongly we allow them to be in determining our actions at times.

Throughout “Learning to Love Star Trek,” I have tried not so much to constantly assess my feelings toward the franchise during this blog series. I wanted to naturally feel it as I went along, as opposed to thinking my way into liking or disliking it. I’ve tried mostly just to observe the way I feel when I go to watch a new episode and whether I have felt compelled to watch more outside of the project. So, we return to the question that started it all: Can someone who has historically been disinterested of all things Star Trek come to love the series, or does it occupy such a niche, even within the science fiction community, that only certain people can become fans of the franchise and its various series? Did I learn to love Star Trek?

My answer is this: I learned to very much like it. I can hear the silence of readers upon reading that answer, as I know it is about the most anticlimactic conclusion I could come to, but that is the way I feel. I would not say that I love it, but I would also not say that I simply think it’s good. I do really, truly enjoy watching TOS and, to a currently lesser extent, DS9 now that I have exposed myself to the franchise. For all the reasons I have discussed, I find these series to be genuinely engaging, and I indeed plan to continue watching them. I started off frankly bored with TOS. Even after seeing several episodes that I considered good, it took a long time for me to come to the point at which I didn’t find it difficult to make it through an episode. As I got a little over halfway through, though, I found myself pausing to check my email and read news less and less during episodes. DS9 is almost the opposite. I started off excited about where it could go, and it has since then slowed down significantly. However, as I said, that series has shown enough promise to keep me committed at least through the end of season 1. With TOS, though, I have to say that I plan on watching all of it.

My proclivities still tend toward the Star Wars side of the science fiction universe, but I now consider myself to have a great appreciation and even enjoyment of what Star Trek has to offer — specifically TOS and DS9. I think it probably does take a specific type of person to fully fall in love with Star Trek, but that is true for anything. I can say, though, that for anyone with an interest in science fiction, the series does have plenty to offer. You just have to be patient and willing to put up with a fair number of episodes that range from frustrating to boring.

And thus ends a fifteen month project and a new discovery of something that I can enjoy watching. It is always exciting when such a series is discovered. When you find a new movie you like, it’s fun, but after two hours (or maybe up to eight, depending on the number of prequels), it’s over. With a TV show, the hours it spends to cover everything are far greater. I can honestly say that I am excited to continue discovering what TOS and DS9 have in store.

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